Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to waste disposal, and more particularly to devices and method for the capture for disposal of EPA regulated waste materials generated by conventional Microbiology/Histology/Pathology laboratories in hospital/laboratory settings.
Description of Related Art
Pursuant to the US Environmental Protection Agency's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (40 CFR), a number of hazardous materials are supposed to be captured and disposed of in a safe manner, not simply flushed into the waterways. Unfortunately, otherwise regulated waste materials are currently being discharged by nearly every Microbiology/Histology/Pathology laboratory in every hospital/laboratory setting where microscopic slides are prepared into the publicly owned treatment works (POTW, i.e., down the drain). The current, standard procedure is to suspend the microscope slides over a sink with a commercial metal slide holder and pour stain solutions over the slides, then rinse them. The resultant stain solutions and rinse go into the sink, staining the sink purple, and then eventually goes down the drain to the POTW.
Despite the lack of a commercially available device to capture this effluent, the Laboratories (Waste Generators) are responsible for capturing this material for disposal as RCRA Hazardous Waste. Some are doing this, using a plastic tray in the sink under the slide rack. This is unacceptable because of the lack of containment and the very real possibility of the waste materials entering the POTW via the sink drain.
The waste materials include stain solutions containing Methanol (EPA D001, F003) and some metals, such as Chromium (EPA D007) and Silver (EPA D011). Such materials should not simply go down the drain of a sink. There is currently no commercially available device to address this issue. Accordingly, there is a long-felt need to provide a mechanism and method for preventing these toxic substances from simply being sent down the drain to the public water works.